


your love is where i'm falling

by constant



Category: ITZY (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Confessions, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26136361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constant/pseuds/constant
Summary: If Ryujin's life was a movie, she wouldn't be the lead character.
Relationships: Lee Chaeryeong/Shin Ryujin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54
Collections: Girl Group Jukebox - Mixtape Round





	your love is where i'm falling

**Author's Note:**

> Written for GG Jukebox Mixtape Round, inspired by [Catch me](https://open.spotify.com/track/7eM88DF4yL4hpNnB6oJLnD?si=lPbtsXpmSYSBRPQTUXhLAw) by Demi Lovato

Once, during a sleepover at Jisu's, Yeji had said, "If our lives were to be featured in a movie, I think Ryujin would be the lead character." 

Everyone immediately agreed. 

All because Ryujin had killed a spider. All because she didn't run off screaming and is the only one who had the actual guts to come near and put an end to it. 

_Strong female lead,_ they said. 

It’s in the way Ryujin carries herself, she thinks. The way she frowns at pickup lines which most people usually giggle to. The way she kicks a vending machine when the snack gets stuck. The way her friends run to her when they need help scaring off some creepy guy. 

So in a way, they're not wrong, but Ryujin cannot whole-heartedly agree either. 

A lead character isn’t only someone the audience will come to root for. It’s more than just being striking, or charming, or dare she say - different. A lead character is usually centered on the story. They propel the story forward - the one who keeps the plot going, the one who keeps it alive. 

If Ryujin's life was a movie, she wouldn't be the lead character - Chaeryeong would. 

Chaeryeong who carries this kind of light around her, brightening people's days through her presence alone. The one who is not afraid to cry in front of others and smile right after wiping her tears because she knows she can get through whatever she's going through. (And most of the time, she does. _She does_.) The one who is not afraid to speak her mind. The one who is strong enough to forgive someone even if they don't deserve it. 

Chaeryeong is strong too, in every sense of the word. 

It's how they met. It was sometime in their freshman year in high school. Ryujin was trying to open a bottle of water she bought at the cafeteria as she made her way to her next class. She was vaguely aware of the stares she's getting from the other students in the hallway, but there had only been one person nice enough to approach her. Chaeryeong just so casually walked up to her, asking in her sweetest voice, "Would you like some help with that?" 

She had liked to keep her hair long then, and it fell over her face when she looked at Ryujin with wide clear eyes. Chaeryeong tucked a strand behind her ear right before Ryujin passed the bottle to her. Ryujin doesn't remember what she said to her then, or if she even said anything at all. 

But it is clear to her and to her memory how captivated she had been with Chaeryeong the first day she met her. 

Flash forward four years. Chaeryeong still opens bottles for her. It had gradually turned into this official, unspoken thing between them - Chaeryeong would take the sealed bottle from Ryu’s hands, almost absentmindedly. Even if Ryujin had gotten much stronger than her highschool freshman-self, she still lets Chaeryeong do it for her. 

Chaeryeong has this kind of effect on her - that if she should be the lead character in Ryujin's movie, Ryujin would be the plot. Chaeryeong is at the center of everything - the one who keeps her going. 

The one who shakes her world when everything is still. The one who slows it down when it keeps spinning around. 

There is certainty in the way Chaeryeong looks at her. The way Chaeryeong holds her hand as if she doesn't want to let her go. The way they stay up together during sleepovers while the others have gone off to dreamland, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. 

Ryujin swears that they had gotten close to confessing more than once. 

And it's always - _always_ \- Ryujin's fault that they only fall short every time. 

The truth is, she's scared.

She's scared because she has never done this before. She's scared that things will have to change between them once they start putting a label on their relationship. She's scared that their friends would find it weird and shun them away. She's scared that they would break up eventually, and Ryujin would rather not have her at all than take that kind of risk. 

But also - 

Ryujin is scared of not having her at all. 

They're in Yuna's place this time, a mandatory gathering to celebrate the end of summer before they all head to their respective pits of hell (read: college). 

Perhaps she has been thinking too much about finally starting college, about separating from her friends and about all the things she has to learn on her own from then on. Perhaps it's just the wine or the night breeze in the veranda or the fact that Chaeryeong is sitting too close to her that Ryujin can catch a whiff of her sweet candy perfume. 

Whatever it is, Ryujin couldn't handle the onslaught of emotions - she bursts into tears.

"Ryu? Oh my god - Ryujin? Why are you crying?" 

It's the wine. It's the conflicting thoughts again. The feelings. The romantic yet depressing 3 am breeze in the veranda.

It's Chaeryeong.

Ryujin doesn't even know anymore. It's just everything.

"I like you too much."

The tough side of her is only a part of a whole. Within her, there is fragility which divulges when vulnerability is too hard to keep together. 

Chaeryeong smiles at her softly, taking her hand in hers and giving it a little squeeze. 

"That's-" She pauses and Ryujin has to look up at her because Chaeryeong never hesitates on her words. Never. 

"That sounds so much better than just hearing it in my head." 

Ryujin laughs as more tears stream down her face. Chaeryeong places her hands on both sides of her face and wipes them away. 

Without breaking their gaze, she says, "I like you too. So _so_ much." 

Something in her _bloomed_. Sure, she has always known about Chaeryeong's feelings for her but it's different having to hear it out loud. 

Ryujin had only been afraid to fall because she’s afraid of crashing down and breaking apart, not knowing that Chaeryeong is _here_ and very much willing to catch her all this time. 

"We don't have to talk about it now. It's okay." Chaer says in a voice so small, _so gentle_ , Ryujin almost breaks down again. 

She shakes her head. "No, no. I think I'm ready." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes." Ryujin replies immediately because she knows it's the truth. 

Chaeryeong gives her another smile and Ryujin mirrors the light-hearted expression. 

She feels the night breeze blow through her hair, prickling at her skin. She finds that the cold doesn't bother her as much as it did a few minutes ago. She's hyperaware of their grazing knees as they sit too close, and the fact that Chaeryeong has never let go of her hand this whole time, her thumb brushing against the top of her hand. 

Ryujin feels herself _falling_ \- this time, she doesn't hold back. 


End file.
